Copper Collage Sculpture Slabs

"Casement Vision"

The “Copper Collage Sculpture Slab” series of works represented one of my few forays into the world of art furniture.  Mostly tables and trivets they were shown at galleries in Sedona and Flagstaff as well as my favorite venue the Coconino Center for the Arts.  Thin 1/4" slabs of float copper, often containing large flecks of native copper, were arranged on a bed of actual mining tailings in collages, sometimes suggestive of particular forms.  Durable bisphenol epoxy resin was then poured over the entire system to lock it in place.  The slabs were provided to me by prospector extraordinaire, the late John Sikorsky, who also provided the inspiration for this line of work.

The epoxy pours were nightmarish affairs, first requiring a day’s cleaning to render a woodworking shop dust-free, no mean feat.  Then the mixing ratio needed to be near perfect, a quart or more of epoxy having to be stirred in very short order.  The thousands of bubbles thus induced had to be popped before the epoxy hardened, using the rather dangerous technique of blowtorch heat which could ignite the whole affair.  Special covers had to be designed that did not attract dust like a capacitor while the casting hardened over the course of many hours. 

One of the pieces entitled “Ore, Timber and Rail” actually won first prize for sculpture at “Vision Southwest,” a show for artists residing in the states of the Four Corners.  This particular coffee table contained elements suggestive of an ore car riding on tracks.  Remarkably it not only provided a cash prize to the maker but also sold from the show.  That was an exception as most of the pieces were eventually purchased by existing customers.